Changing To Be Decimo
by Killing Reality
Summary: It might have have been only one event that led to the changes in Tsuna, or it might have been several. But the fact was, Tsuna was changing, and walking his path to becoming the Vongola Decimo. A welcome path to most, but still trodden by a reluctant leader. Who was slowly coming to face the reality of the dark side of the Mafia that he would inherit in time.
1. Prologue

_**Hello Readers, this is my first time being back to writing fanfiction in years. I haven't delved much into action anime but I got myself hooked on KHR. After reading (a heck of a lot) of KHR Fanfiction I felt compelled to write my own so I hope you enjoy.**_

 **Prologue**

 _The Question_

When asked, most of the guardians of Vongola Decimo would stop, think for a while and give one of numerous answers.

But what is the question?

The question is simply,

'When did Tsuna stop being so Dame?'

The first response you would probably hear is.

"What are you talking about?! Jyudaime has never been Dame! I'm going to blow you up for insulting the tenth!"

This of course comes from the Storm guardian, the most loyal of the guardians and Tsuna's self-acclaimed right-hand man. His very response as explosive as his nature, quietly simmering away one moment before exploding in the next, but at the centre a continuous calm that the Sky might find some stillness while the storm would rage around him. Another response you might hear would be.

"Hmm, I'm not really sure, I suppose it happened over time? But Tsuna is Tsuna, there's no need for strange questions like that."

This response would be from the Rain Guardian, a very typical answer, one that might sooth or wash away any confusing thoughts. The very nature of Tsuna's Rain, but even he will walk away wondering about such a question.

"Tsuna has not changed to the EXTREME"

There is no mistaking the loud exclamation from Tsuna's one of a kind Sun Guardian, his presence lighting up a room both with his appearance and his loud mannerisms, but his brightness can be a blessing, his straightforwardness a commodity in the world of the mafia, and one the Sky may come to rely upon many a time in the harshness of the dark underworld.

These are the responses of those that are around their Sky almost constantly, and while such proximity might have given them insight to the change in their reluctant leader. Being so close made them blind to the changes upon him. Whereas the next guardians, had no such time with their Sky, and while they would have seen him frequently they were never always as close to him as the others. Of course, this gave them a different perspective, and birthed different opinions.

"When things became too much for him to bear with innocence alone"

Would come one such response from an elusive Mist, with a seemingly permanent smirk, but sorrowful eyes, coming from one who had probably long forgotten what innocence was until meeting the other half of his soul, and a mist guardian herself, who would nod in agreement, a tear falling from her one eye.

"When the Family started interfering with the family"

Would come the brief and practically growled out response from a drifting cloud guardian, who only seemed to drift closer to his Sky when days of turmoil started to erupt around them.

"When all the kids kept getting kidnapped"

Would come the small voice from the Lightning guardian, who ended up being the lightning rod far too early than the Sky deemed necessary. However, the small child felt proud as well as guilty for the events that had led him to his status. But he would say no more.

So, with mixed responses from the guardians, only getting vague answers, you might try others that are close to the esteemed Vongola Decimo. For instance, his tutor.

"He's never stopped being Dame, he will always be Dame. Now, get me an espresso."

The giver of this response would be diligently cleaning his favoured gun, not casting you a single glance from under his ever-present, yellow striped fedora, but looking closely enough you might notice a stiffness of the shoulders, a tension in the arms. Perhaps a hardened down turned mouth where a mischievous smirk is usually present. But you gain no other answers, make an espresso, and move on.

"Who knows? Kora"

Similarly, another fondness of gun cleaning becomes apparent, and you might notice that this seems to keep the owners' eyes away from your curious gaze. but while claiming ignorance in his response, he gives away that he is at least aware of the changes you are enquiring about. But nothing else gets said. And you move on.

"When the Arcobaleno curse lifted perhaps?"

A more educated response that is definitely more insightful, but is given as a guess from the Scientist before you. But again, showing the awareness of the change but not deeming it a mystery that requires solving by his great mind. But you already knew about the curse being lifted, so you move on.

"I'm not interested in the mental changes of the upcoming Vongola boss. Now you are going to pay me for my time. Let's discuss payment plans. I know you can't afford high amounts all at once. There will be an interest fee of course."

It had only been luck that you came across the money grabbing enigma, but they gave away more than the others, successfully establishing that the change was mental, though you might have known that already. Now to discuss payment terms….

"I don't really know. Is he any different at all?"

It becomes apparent that asking the immortal cloud had been a mistake, the stuntman clearly has no idea what you are talking about. You move on, cursing yourself for wasting time.

"Perhaps it was when Vongola Nono got ill that one time."

This sparks your curiosity, the answer is not vague at all, and may be an actual reason. And you are grateful that the storm of the former Arcobaleno is nothing like the Decimo's storm you had mistakenly asked earlier. But further enquiries about the situation is met with silence, broken only by the quiet sipping of tea. You sigh, and move on.

"It might have been when his father got seriously injured."

Another straight answer, and just as reasonable as the previous, and probably first-hand knowledge coming from the previously half cursed Arcobaleno, with being a colleague of the Decimo's father, and having trained the young Vongola for a brief time, they would certainly have unique insight into how the change of the Decimo came about. You go to ask more, but the woman is gone. And you are left unsure whether the question has actually been answered with all the responses you received.

So perhaps, the answer to the question isn't a single one, but many.

So, a different question is formed, that should answer your first.

'What happened to Tsuna?'

' _I'll show you'_

 _ **I hope you liked the start, I decided it would be a good idea to actually have the plot in the beginning so I don't forget what I'm going to do with the story.**_

 _ **To note, at the moment I'm not going to be focusing on relationships, just the story, but that's not to say I won't be putting pairings in at all, it'll be if and when they suit the story itself, not just thrown in there for the sake of it. And no actual pairings have been decided yet. You are free to comment and let me know which ones you would like to see and I might consider them, again if they will suit the plot.**_

 _ **Let me know what you think so far and I'll have another chapter up for you soon.**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **~Killing Reality**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Hello readers, here is the first official chapter, I hope you enjoy it. I want to give a big shout out to DeadlyMind-07 & luwiluwi for giving this story it's first reviews and adding it to their faves and follows**_

 _ **I want to give a special shout out for Haku132 who not only added this story to their faves and follows but liked the prologue so much to fave and follow me as an author, so thank you very much Haku132, I hope I continue to impress.**_

 _ **I also want to give a shout out for Izanami Otome Nura & Mew'z for also adding this fic to their faves and follows.**_

 _ **And lastly I wan't a final shout out for the following: Brie45, FluffyCanaries, Hazelna, Titti R and Zoela for following this story**_

 _ **Disclaimer: - I do not own KHR Or it's many characters, only the plot bunny of this story**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _His Hyper Dying Will Mode_

Reborn was understandably frustrated. For once in his life he was genuinely confused by his student, and his sudden, albeit subtle, attitude change. And he was going to get to the bottom of it.

The change had only started a week ago, his student was starting to grow a backbone. True the idiot had always been in constant denial and refusal about his position, but the loud, obnoxious, and downright girly outbursts were easy enough to control with the threat of 'training' and Reborn relished in it.

But now, Tsuna was, very courageously, displaying sarcasm, and even, dare he think it. A spine.

Doing what any tutor would do in his situation, he asked his student about the matter directly, after witnessing a particular change he hadn't been expecting at all. However, with the development of a spine, and sarcastic humour, his student had also gained a death wish. He wasn't telling Reborn anything, but only one mystery was plaguing Reborn's thoughts and that was:

Tsuna no longer needs bullets or pills to go into Hyper Dying Will Mode.

Understandably, it had come as a shock to Reborn, not for lack of wanting the outcome over time, he had just been stuck in trying to find the solution, after witnessing the phenomena, while a little proud (though he would never admit it.) He still wanted to know how his student managed such a feat.

Which is why he asked, and soon found that being able to go into Hyper Dying Will Mode, at will, had sparked his students' sudden death wish, in not divulging any information to him. Which of course resulted in 'training' for his wayward student, in the form of bullets and the occasional Leon transformed mallet.

And yet, still no answers.

Silently seething, Reborn left his student to his own devices in their shared room and made his way to the empty kitchen, Nana being out shopping with the children. And took to cleaning his secondary 'non-Leon' gun.

Starting with precariously filling a flat basin with water, using the edge of the sink as a balance, he hefted the water to the kitchen table with seemingly little trouble for his short stature.

He then pulled out a silk cloth, placed it neatly next to the basin before following up with a cotton one that he put to one side, then got to work in dismantling the gun.

With little to go on with his student, Reborn started with what he did have. The first being the incident with Bermuda.

' _It could be a side effect. He was already in Hyper Dying Will Mode when he was shot with another Dying Will bullet, if that's the case, this might end up wearing off.'_

It seemed a plausible conclusion but thinking further, Reborn recalled a couple more instances where he was still required to shoot his student with a Rebuke bullet, or Tsuna had taken the two necessary pills to go into the Hyper Dying Will Mode.

' _So perhaps not, unless he could already go into Hyper Dying Will Mode on his own, and was just hiding the fact. Or he didn't actually know until after those instances. But I can't just go ahead and ask because the Dame isn't talking. Damn student.'_

Pausing in his thoughts when his gun was dismantled, he delicately placed the more larger parts in the water to soak while he took to cleaning the more smaller ones with the cotton cloth he had pulled out previously.

"He's too Dame to be able to hide something like that immediately" He muttered to himself placing the newly cleaned parts on the silk cloth he prepared. "And if he realised he could do it after the instances he would have immediately said something. No this is more serious."

With concluding that the change came after, and not during the event with Bermuda, Reborn figured that he needed to analyse any situations or incidents that may have led Tsuna to realise he could enter his HDWM without assistance. So he gave thought to the state itself,

' _It allows the user to release their inner limiters, rather than the outer ones seen in just the normal Dying Will mode. The inner limiters being released allows him to act calmly in battle and not use is Dying Will all at once. So Tsuna must have developed the ability to simply release those limiters on his own. But how? He's too Dame to be able to do anything like that.'_

The smaller parts now cleaned, Reborn took the larger parts that had been soaking in the water one at a time and started to dry and clean them.

' _He might have just landed himself in a situation when I was not there, and possibly without his pills, idiota, and would have needed to go into HDWM in order to survive, escape, or protect someone.'_

"Che" Came is vocal frustration, his drying on the gun chamber becoming slightly rougher.

 _Most likely to protect someone, he would willingly take a beating if it was only him around, and he wouldn't use the state just to escape, he'd just run and hope for the best. Which means…'_

"Reborn"

The hitman almost jumped at the soft voice, too distracted in his thoughts and drying off his gun to notice that Tsuna had been standing in the doorway for a while, staring at the hitman with far too intense eyes that looked strange on the teens normal pre-pubescent face. The teens shoulder was resting against the door frame, his arms folded, as casual at it might have seemed to others, to Reborn it was just further proof that his student was changing, in its own way it was giving of an aura of control and calmness that Reborn had never seen from his student outside of his HDWM.

Tsuna seemed to notice the attention and lightly pushed himself away from the door frame and unfolded his arms, instead opting to leave them at his sides. This only furthered Reborn's unease at the casual power his student was exuding, and sudden attentiveness, and was thinking it might be further change from entering HDWM with his own ability.

"It's really not important Reborn. Can you not just let this one go?" Tsuna continued, once again bringing Reborn out from his thoughts. However, the hitman expected this and sighed.

"It is important, Dame-Tsuna. I can't let this go, I need to know how you were able to accomplish this on your own when even I have not found a solution to the problem." The hitman grumbled, drying his gun more furiously in frustration. Tsuna watched on in silence, waiting for his tutor to continue. "I don't understand why you can't just tell me Tsuna. This is not a bad thing." He said while casting a glance at the waiting teen. Seeing no obvious response coming he continued with a sigh while he started to reassemble his gun. "If you tell me, I promise I will not punish you, Dame-Tsuna. I actually find it commendable that you've accomplished something like this on your own. Keeping it a secret is just frustrating me, I had thought that you would be jumping for joy that I don't have to shoot you anymore." He figured that giving his student praise, rather than threatening him with further violence might make him open up and just tell him how he managed it. He honestly didn't care if his student might have found the kindness more frightening than any threat the hitman had given him before.

"Commendable." Came a monotonous voice. Reborn blinked before looking back at his student, seeing that the brunet had had hidden his eyes behind his bangs, a habit he will soon be trying to kick him out of. Reborn had thought momentarily that Tsuna had entered the very state they had been discussing, but with no flames present it didn't seem to be the case. But he still wondered.

"Tsuna?" The hitman enquired, placing his newly cleaned gun on the kitchen table in front of him. The soft sound seemed to snap Tsuna out of his strange mood and the teen looked up sheepishly.

"It's nothing Reborn. I don't remember how it happened. I don't mean to keep it a secret. But I just really don't know." He was completely different, like a switch had just been flicked and he went back to his usual Dame self. His eyes no longer holding that eerie attentiveness and his stance back to awkward and fidgety. Reborn almost shot him from sheer frustration for the switch and blatant lie. This was becoming more of a mystery, and he did not like it.

The door opened then with the arrival of Nana, returning from shopping with Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta in toe. Breaking the killing intent Reborn was directing at his now sweating student.

' _Damn'_

"I'm home! Ah Tsu-Kun! Could you lend a hand with putting all this shopping away?"

Taking the welcomed distraction Tsuna didn't hesitate to help his mother, the children starting their usual chaotic routine of running around the small house, before being ushered into the yard by an exasperated Nana, for once exhausted by the endless energy of the children.

"Are you okay Kaa-San?" Tsuna asked after hearing a long sigh coming from his usually constantly energetic mother.

"I'm fine, the children just seem a bit more lively than normal. It's just been a little difficult with dealing with them today. Fuuta-kun helped as best he could but Lambo-Chan just seemed to be completely out of sorts."

Tsuna frowned at this and looked towards the children through the glass screen separating them from the yard. On the surface everything looked to be normal, the kids where running around each other and appeared to be playing happily. But on closer inspection Tsuna could tell it was different. Lambo, normally boisterous on any day looked to be ten times worse, his expression, normally happy and full of mischief seemed instead to be furrowed in anguish. I-Pin as a result looked to be more frustrated, her usually soft blows held back when playing, were now actually aiming to be painful to the young Bovino. And Fuuta of course was just despairing at not being able to stop the two.

"I'm sorry Kaa-San. I should have been there to help out."

"Now now, I daresay there's nothing much you could have done. I doubt anything will calm them down. I suppose they will just tire themselves out eventually." Nana said with a smile before putting the last of her groceries in the fridge. She turned back to her son only to find that he was no longer in the kitchen with her, and had stepped out into the yard with the children.

She couldn't describe the feeling that came over her when she witnessed the utter stillness of the scene before her. Perhaps it was anticipation along with uncertainty, and she shivered at the thought of it being caused by her baby boy. She noticed Reborn in her peripheral vision, also taking in the strange sight, but she daren't turn away to see the baby's expression in case the scene shatters like an illusion. Instead she watched with bated breath as the children, who had been as loud as sirens for a good part of the afternoon, were now completely silent, watching their surrogate brother coming towards them with a grace and elegance she would never have even _dreamed_ of being executed by her usually accident-prone son.

Tsuna walked straight up to Lambo before kneeling before the young Bovino, from only seeing the back of her son, she couldn't _see_ what he was saying, or hear it for that matter, but knew that whatever it was, it was having an effect on the small Afro haired child, who suddenly teared up before moving to Tsuna, arms open wide in askance of an embrace before Tsuna complied. I-Pin and Fuuta, obviously moved by the scene demanded their own attention by clinging onto their older brother, their own tears slowly tricking down their cheeks.

It felt like hours to Nana, when only minutes had passed when the children reluctantly detached themselves from Tsuna, probably in response to something he must have been saying. They all gave him shaky nods before he stood and made his way back to the house.

* * *

Tsuna froze as he came back into the kitchen. Pausing at the look of slight awe and trepidation that he was receiving from his mother, and trying his best to ignore the look of confusion, frustration, and the promise of pain from his tutor.

' _I think I probably could have handled that better. This is going to be bad'_ He reached his hand up to the back of his head, ruffling the hair at the back of his neck in nervous habit while he directed a small smile at his mother. He froze again when he found himself in a sudden embrace from Nana, the tension she had built up washed away from her and left relief in its place at the familiar gesture of nervousness from her son. She took a step back, nodded to herself and started on making dinner. Leaving the brunet stunned at the display.

Not being able to delay it any longer he turned his brown orbs to the waiting hitman, who simply gestured for him to make his way to his room. Biting back a sigh he nodded before heading up the stairs.

There was no avoiding the questions now, Reborn was clearly livid. He wondered if he might survive. But he wasn't going to tell him the truth. He doesn't need to know.

"Explain." Came the curt command from the former Arcobaleno as Tsuna shut the door behind them. The brunet simply sighed before making his way to his bed and sat on the edge, Reborn followed his example and sat in front on him, waiting for the teen to start.

Tsuna glanced at his tutor, noticing the dark glare he was receiving before turning his gaze to the clear sky out of his window, a soft warming of orange was starting to colour the azure landscape and Tsuna couldn't help but cast a smile at the sight. A sharp cough brought his attention back to his room and the angered tutor before him.

"I calmed them down. What is there to explain." He said simply as he leveled his own gaze to Reborn.

A twitch of Reborn's eye was the only indication that Tsuna was walking on dangerous grounds with his tutor. A stilled silence settled between them as Reborn reined in his anger at his student.

' _Perhaps he's just hitting puberty and that's what's making him act so brave. Dame-Tsuna. I've not been this angry at a student since Dino thought showing his appreciation meant getting a tattoo of my fedora on his backside. I won't deny that personally lasering the thing off brought me a lot of satisfaction, and effectively re-educated my student. I wonder if Tsuna might have got a tattoo without me knowing… No, probably not... Shame'_

"Tsuna. I'm being serious here." He started instead, effectively turning his anger to thoughts of lasering skin off students. "As much as those children look up to you, you have never been able to calm them down. No-one is able to calm them down. Which leads me to believe that something happened beforehand that drove them more crazy than normal. That you know something about. Am I wrong?"

"I'm not answering that. I've already answered your question. You can't force me to talk."

"Don't test me on that Tsuna."

"Or what?"

"Or I _will_ force you to talk." Thoughts of lasering looking like a nice prospect now.

"How? Shooting me? Hitting me? Do you think I'm not already used to all the violence you've subjected me to? What else have you got that you haven't used against me already!" Tsuna's voice escalated rapidly and his previously calm eyes were now filled with a rage Reborn hadn't even seen him use in battle.

' _What the?'_

The sudden outburst had caught Reborn completely off guard, and from the almost hysteric pants and panic filled eyes, it had shocked his student too. The silence stretched, broken only by Tsuna's labored breathing as if he had just run a marathon.

It took a while before Tsuna was able to fully calm down, his breathing eventually becoming less erratic while his heartbeat slowly steadied itself. He looked to his waiting tutor, the hitman's face showing no reaction to his odd outburst. Taking one last steadying breath Tsuna spoke.

"I – I'm sorry Reborn. I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to shout at you like that."

Reborn scoffed. "Despite appearances Tsuna, I'm not a child, and I'm not offended. But you need to tell me what happened to you. This is strange behaviour. I just want to understand so that I can help. Can you please just tell me what happened."

Tsuna was taken about back at the obvious concern and small note of pleading from his tutor and in that moment, he was tempted to tell him everything. But he couldn't, not yet at least. He wouldn't understand, _he_ still didn't understand. And until he did, no one was going to know anything. Not even his tutor.

Resolved, he simply shook his head. Clamming his mouth shut and closing his eyes. Visibly shaking and a sheen of sweat running from his forehead.

"Very well," Reborn mumbled, almost silently. "But you can't avoid this conversation forever, Dame-Tsuna. Get yourself cleaned up before coming down for dinner."

Nodding mutely Tsuna rose from his seat and moved to the bathroom, Reborn watching attentively as he did before the brunet disappeared from sight. With nothing else to do the hitman made his way back to the kitchen, Nana still preparing dinner, if she had heard the loud outburst from her son earlier, she decided not to comment and Reborn turned to the only person seated at the table, which was Fuuta.

He smirked at the opportunity as he hopped up to his usual seat, looking around, he noticed that Lambo and I-Pin were still out in the yard, their playful routine back to normal instead of the all-out fight he had witnessed earlier.

"Fuuta" He called as he got settled. The ranking price looked to him in silent question before the hitman continued, erasing the presence of his smirk at the golden opportunity he'd landed in.

"What did Tsuna say to Lambo?" At the question, he noticed that Nana paused in her cooking for a moment before continuing, now keeping an ear on the conversation. In Reborn's opinion, a direct approach was usually the best one. A blunt question asked suddenly leaves little time for the other party to come up with a plausible lie. And from experience he usually gains the whole truth, part of the truth, or a blatant lie. Even if he got a lie from Fuuta on this occasion, he would probably still gain some insight.

"You'll have to ask Lambo or Tsuna, I didn't really hear, it was mumbled."

' _No hesitation, damn. A deflection perhaps? Or part of the truth? He didn't look surprised at the question either. Maybe Tsuna warned him that I might start asking questions?_

"Very well." The hitman replied, no other choice, if it's a truth or a lie, no more answers would be given.

The kitchen remained quiet if not for the noises of cooking being made by their host, the peace lasting until Lambo barged into the room, followed quickly by I-Pin. Before the young Bovino could make any declaration of war to the superior hitman, Reborn interjected with his one question of the afternoon.

"What did Tsuna say to you earlier?"

' _That's more like it, Lambo's younger and less mature so he can't school his expression as well, if at all. This should be easy.'_

Lambo fell silent at the sudden question from his rival and his expression flitted between frustrated and nervous, his gaze shifting everywhere away from the hitman before him.

"That's private." He said finally. Reborn almost pulled out a gun in annoyance.

"Then I won't tell anyone" He said instead.

"I don't want you to know." Came the childish retort.

"Did Tsuna tell you not to tell me?" Reborn asked, getting more frustrated. Thinking back to when the three had nodded before Tsuna had left them in the yard, wondering if he had instructed them not to say anything.

"No." Lambo was getting more frustrated himself, his face starting to turn red and the occasional sniff marring the silence.

"Reborn-Kun, perhaps it's best if you let the matter rest." Came Nana's soothing tone and the Bovino almost fell over in relief at the words "Obviously what Tsuna has said to him is important to him, otherwise he would share it. Isn't that right Lambo-Chan?"

A small nod came from the sniffling Bovino while Reborn suppressed another urge to shoot the small cow child.

"Now that that's settled, could someone go get Tsuna? Dinner is ready."

"I'm here."

Reborn almost jumped again and had to quickly repress the urge to shoot his student for suddenly appearing behind him.

' _That's twice he's been able to do that. It can't be a coincidence'_

Ignoring the glare from the hitman Tsuna immediately moved to the distressed Bovino.

"Lambo, what's the matter? Did something happen?" The child just shook his head stiffly before taking his seat, Tsuna watched in mild confusion before casting a questioning gaze to his tutor, which was promptly ignored. With a sigh Tsuna dropped the matter. "Would you like a hand setting out the table?" He called to his mother, getting a thankful 'yes' he got to work. After setting down the plate of food in front of his tutor he leaned in a little closer and mumbled.

"I'll tell you, after dinner."

Deciding not to hide his smirk of victory Reborn dug into his meal with renewed vigor, Tsuna just rolled his eyes at the display before starting his own meal.

* * *

The silence stretched on uncomfortably, well, more frustratingly for the small hitman but he realised that his student needed to prepare himself for what he was about to say. He just wished the idiota would get on with it.

After hearing what must have been the twenty-seventh frustrated sigh, he promptly gave up on patience.

"Why don't you just start at the beginning." He suggested, trying to keep his tone calm and open.

"But it's difficult."

"How? It's the beginning, it's what you first remember of the event, situation, or incident or whatever the hell happened. Start with the morning, you woke up, the day was going fine, as fine as can be for you, then?" He prompted. It seemed like a good start for him. In fact "Or even more accurately, you were hit awake by yours truly, got frogmarched into getting ready for school, walked to said school with your ever-present storm and rain guardians. And then?"

It wasn't working, in fact it seemed to have the opposite effect on Tsuna. The brunet looked to be more confused, and slightly terrified.

"Tsuna?"

"I don't remember the morning." Tsuna had covered his eyes with his hair at this point, though Reborn knew they would have the same panic-stricken look from earlier in the day. "On that day." He elaborated "I wasn't lying earlier when I said I don't know what happened, I'm still trying to piece it all together in my head. I remember everything, but sometimes it's like I'm in the situation, and other times it's like I'm watching from the outside. And I don't know. It's all confusing, I don't understand what happened, that's why I hadn't wanted to tell you yet, because I don't know yet."

"Then we'll see if we can't piece it together for you. Let's start with what you do know. You mentioned it being a situation, right? You know what it was but you're seeing it all from different perspectives. Just start simple, tell me the situation."

"It was Lambo. He got taken away while we had been out shopping. I'd only taken my eyes off him for a moment, distracted by some stupid shop." He bit out before he continued. "When I looked back he wasn't with me. I'd first thought he'd gone off to some sweet shop, so I started looking in them. But I couldn't find him." He breathed out a shaky breath, hands clasped together and shaking, head bowed, eyes covered. Sensibly Reborn remained silent while his student continued. "That's when everything changed. Suddenly, it was like I knew exactly what had happened, I could picture it in my head, someone coming up to Lambo, tempting him with a candy and then him following silently, not alerting me at the time. It had been like I was in my Hyper Dying Will Mode, with the intuition, but it had never been so, so clear before, and potent, it had been like I was suddenly an observer, and then I was back in myself again, and I had never felt myself in such a desperate rage. Like another person had taken over and could think of nothing more than getting to Lambo and -"

Tsuna paused, the shaking had become worse, with his eyes covered Reborn couldn't tell if it was the rage Tsuna had mentioned, the panic he had been feeling or a combination of the two. Not wanting to break the thought process Reborn continued to wait, for once not impatient, but getting more and more confused as his student must have been feeling.

"And punishing the one who took him." The brunets voice took a hard edge and Reborn was taken aback by the unrestrained fury that came with the declaration. He wanted more than anything at that moment to ask if his student, his almost criminally cowardly student, who bawled at the mere thought of harming anyone unprovoked, had actually gone through with his wish of harming this stupid kidnapper. But again, knowing it would be unwise to interrupt, Reborn remained silent.

"I just moved, it was like I had a radar, telling me exactly where I could find Lambo, and I was there in minutes, but the kidnapper was waiting. Their face was covered, and they kept themselves in the shadows. I couldn't even tell the gender from where I stood. But they were holding Lambo. And Lambo was crying. None of us moved, I had lost whatever rage had driven me there when I saw Lambo's relief at seeing me, and I felt disgusted that I had actually thought about…. About causing harm to another human being, I was almost sick there and then. But the kidnapper was still there, and still had Lambo, and I knew I needed to do something. Knew I needed to get him back. But you weren't there, and I didn't have the dying will pills. So I didn't know what to do. But Lambo started crying again, the kidnapper must have hurt him. And then I just moved again, but it was different from before, it was like I was me, there was no rage, just how I am normally in in my hyper state. But I hadn't done anything, I just, I don't know I just – "

"Resolved yourself on your own, to protect Lambo." Tsuna looked up at the statement, understanding dawned on him momentarily and he nodded before his face became conflicted.

"It was over quickly, I stopped the kidnapper and called the police. Lambo was in hysterics, he had been so scared. And I had forgotten all about the rage I had felt, and the strange intuition. Until I was able to do it again."

"Go into HDWM?" Tsuna nodded.

"And then I remembered, how I had reacted at realising Lambo had been taken. How my intuition was completely different. And everything just got so confusing I didn't know what was happening, I kept feeling that rage, like it was trying to consume me. Change me. And I was so scared." Silence followed for a moment as Reborn took in his student's words, but needed to clarify.

"When you went into HDWM again, when was it?" He asked, wondering if there had been more times than he realised.

"When you saw it."

Or not.

That event wasn't something as big as the kidnapping Tsuna mentioned, but something in that first time must have unlocked the ability for Tsuna to release the limiters on his own. If he recalled this second time, it wasn't even a fight, Dino had stopped by for a visit and the three of them, with Gokudera, had been on the school roof. Dino had stupidly left his men back at base and somehow managed to do a brilliant Tsuna impersonation of tripping over thin air, to consequently trip _onto_ thin air as he promptly fell of the roof. Reborn hadn't even been able to transform Leon into his gun form before Tsuna followed Dino over the edge, flames trailing behind him. Stunned, Reborn had turned to the storm guardian and asked if he had seen Tsuna take the dying will pills.

He hadn't.

Which was when Reborn had started his inquisition.

"So you've only gone into the state twice on your own?" He asked, getting back to the topic. He got a nod in response.

"And you feel this rage when you do?" Tsuna shifted at that and Reborn picked up on the sudden nervousness that came from the teen. "Or is it not limited to being in your Hyper state?" His response this time was Tsuna simply lowering his head as if in shame.

"When had the kidnapping first happened? I hadn't heard about it. Had I been away?" He asked instead, knowing the response to be mean yes.

"It had been two weeks before you came back with Dino."

So yes, he had been away at the time, which meant if he chalked up the timescales from then to now, Tsuna has had this rage thing for at least three weeks. It was definitely a concern. Now to narrow down the cause, thinking back to Xanxus, his flames of wrath were a manifestation of his anger, but also a trait that looked to be seemingly passed from Secondo. As such, Xanxus can't create Sky flames in the same way Tsuna can, and Tsuna's, from watching him with Dino, hadn't taken on that wrathful quality, they were still the much more harmonising flames that he had come used to. Even when hardened after the training for facing Byakuran. So his sudden rage was not effecting his flames, just seemingly, his intuition.

"When you rescued Dino, you said you felt the rage again then. Can you think why?" Tsuna didn't move while he thought back, after a minute he looked to Reborn and nodded.

"I was reminded of the time Yamamoto-Kun had thought about jumping off for breaking his arm."

Reborn nodded in understanding, although different circumstances, it was still a need to protect, even if the guardians hadn't been established at the time, Tsuna had felt a strong need to protect his schoolmate at the time. Being put in a similar situation would have sparked that memory and that fierce protective need.

"So when you were enraged that time, you wouldn't have wanted to hurt anyone, it would have only probably been directed at Dino a little, for being so clumsy?" Reborn stated it as a question in case it was off the mark but the realisation and nod that came from Tsuna told him he was on the right track.

"And when you have been enraged at other times, without being in Hyper mode, what has happened? Can you think of any examples?" Suddenly Tsuna turned a cold gaze towards him and Reborn had to suppress the shiver that ran down his spine at the chilling atmosphere, he had a feeling that he had probably done something that upset the teen. And recently.

"There was today, when I came down and you had upset Lambo with your questions." Tsuna's voice was almost monotonous if not for the underlying rage that Reborn could now sense in his student. Not to be deterred, and hoping to diffuse the tension, Reborn continued.

"Understandable, It's the protectiveness again. Overall, the urge looks to have been heightened, and feeling the 'rage' is an effect of that. Normally you would chastise me in that whiny way you usually adopt, while I would rain bullets at you both for being annoying. But instead, you diffused the situation on your own by ignoring me completely and focusing your attention on calming Lambo down. Leading me to believe, that while not appearing in your Hyper Dying Will Mode, when someone close to you is upset or threatened, your mind goes into it on its own, and the 'rage' you are feeling, is just a fierce over-protectiveness."

Tsuna thought on this for a moment, possibly thinking about other times he had felt so uncontrollably angry and seeing if there was in fact a pattern like Reborn was suggesting.

"Also, by seeming to remember occasions that have left you feeling over-protective before, also lends itself into mentally activating your HDWM, if not appearing that you have. Such as a moment ago, when you remembered the incident with Lambo before dinner."

"But why is it happening now? Nothing's changed, but yet I'm getting so 'over-protective' like you say. It doesn't make sense."

"It makes perfect sense, Dame-Tsuna. You are finally showing your quality as a future boss. Having a fierce protectiveness over your family proves that. Now we just need to learn to control it. We can't have you wanting to maim people every time one of your guardians gets upset. Can we?"

Tsuna blinked and ducked his head sheepishly at the declaration before nodding his head in agreement.

"Good. Let's get started then. Tsuna! Show me your Dying Will!"

"HIEEEEEEE!?"

' _Now, if I can just figure out how this over-protectiveness started affecting his HDWM. Find out what he said to Lambo earlier. If this kidnapper was Mafia or just an idiota. Why he can't remember the morning at all of the kidnapping. How all of this relates to him growing a backbone *Sigh* I've got my work cut out for me with this mystery. Oh well, time will tell._

 _ **And the first chapter is officially done, I've checked through this about three times so I think I got all the spelling mistakes, If not please let me know I'll i'll fix it up. :)**_

 _ **I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though not a lot really happened, but the fic will be focusing more on Tsuna's personal development and how it comes about (because if I didn't make it clear in this chapter, it's going to be far from simple, TeeHee) I will be putting in fight scenes when they become part of the story, but I'm just letting you know to not expect them to happen in every chapter.**_

 _ **Also, I am hoping to update weekly, and will be trying my best to do this. If I don't update in a week I give everyone permission to personally give me a kick up the butt to get a chapter up ASAP :)**_

 _ **Thank you again for all your support so far, I hope I continue to impress.**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **~Killing Reality**_


	3. Chapter 2

_**And it's finally here! I'm sorry this is a bit later in the day to come out but I've only had chance to actually type this up today.**_

 _ **I just want to quickly give a shout out for all the continued support! I'm sorry for not listing users like I had last time, I'll try and do that for next chapter but at the moment I just want to get this uploaded and get ready for work tomorrow,**_

 _ **This chapter is also a bit shorter than the last one but I feel if I don't stop here then the chapter will go on FOREVER! And I need sleep haha.**_

 _ **Anyways I hope you enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own KHR!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _His Impulses_

"Get on with it then." Came Reborn's irritated command at the fidgeting teen in front on him.

It had been a full five minutes since Reborn had instructed Tsuna to enter his HDWM, and so far, not a single thing had happened.

"It's not working!" Tsuna cried out, shuffling backwards on the bed in a small hope of escaping his tutors ever growing impatience at his sudden, well more returning, incompetence. "I don't know why!" He continued when he could sense the hitman's need to use violence in order to get a result.

Instead Reborn just watched his student steadily, thinking of a cause for his student's inability to enter the state before it came to him a flash. The realisation showing on his face had almost made Tsuna collapse in relief when all violent thoughts looked to have vanished.

"I think I know why" Reborn stated while Tsuna returned to his position at the end of his bed. Reborn waited until the brunet was settled again before he continued. "You are currently not needing to 'protect' anyone. The last two times you entered the state completely was to protect others from harm. So, the reason you are not entering it now is because there is no-one in danger."

"Oh, I guess so." Agreed lamely

Scowling at his student's obliviousness he continued. "As already discussed you are still able to go into a 'mental only' state of HDWM if you reflect back on those two times, as well as other times when you feel you have needed to protect someone. If we focus on this 'mental only' state and see if you are able to go into this at will, it shouldn't be too much a leap to go from that into your full HDWM. It will also give you control over your emotions, so that you are not wanting to 'lash out' at whoever's caused the need for state to appear." There was a long silence, followed by fidgeting, followed by…

"I don't really get it." Tsuna shrunk in on himself as Reborn's unleashed a wave of killing intent at his student followed by a stagnant silence as Reborn collected his thoughts of maiming.

"I'll talk you through it, Dame-Tsuna. Try not to get too confused or you might find yourself with brain damage with how hard I'll kick you into next week." He got nod in response before starting. "Good. Now I want you to recall the kidnapping again. Not the part where you found Lambo and the kidnapper. But the part when you realised how he had actually gone missing. You said you had _seen_ it, but when you came to yourself again you needed to find him, but you weren't in full HDWM, but you knew you had to _protect_ him. Remember that feeling and let it flow into your thoughts. That _need_ to protect."

Reborn could feel the atmosphere in the room change as Tsuna did as instructed, his student eyes were kept closed but he wasn't hiding them behind his bangs, instead his head seemed more raised, his brows furrowed in both concentration and frustration, his hands clenched into fists and trembling. Recognising the restraint of fury Tsuna was feeling Reborn intervened.

"You are letting the rage take hold Tsuna. You don't want to be using that, don't focus on the anger, focus on keeping your family _safe_ and your friends _safe_ " After a minute the shaking looked to stop and Tsuna unfolded his hands before giving a slow nod in understanding, eyes still remining closed. "Good. That's good Tsuna." Reborn started, letting the pride in his student coat his tone. "Now, while keeping this control, think back to when you had found Lambo, remember how that need to protect grew until your HDWM manifested completely." For a moment nothing happened again until Tsuna's brows furrowed further but still no flame appeared on his forehead. After a minute he shook his head slowly before opening his eyes.

Reborn was only a little surprised to see the glowing orange of his irises that were normally adopted in his HDWM and he refrained from smirking at the small progress they had made.

"I'm sorry Reborn" Tsuna murmured as the orange glow started to fade back to his usual honey brown hue. "I just can't seem to do it."

"It's not a problem Tsuna, I wasn't expecting it to happen straight away, it's just something we'll need to work on. In the meantime you should get your homework finished. You have school in the morning, so get it done before going to bed." Tsuna just nodded, still feeling the effects of the 'lesson' calm his thoughts.

Reborn meanwhile left the room and headed back downstairs to the kitchen where Nana was sat with Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta, the children enjoying a dessert.

"Oh Reborn, I'm sorry for not asking, would you like any?" Nana enquired gesturing to the cake that had been set on the table. The hitman just shook his head in polite refusal before hopping up onto a spare seat. Lambo glanced at him nervously before eating with renewed vigour in an attempt to ignore his presence.

Choosing to ignore the cow child, Reborn turned his attention to Nana.

"Mama" Reborn called, gaining the woman's attention. "A few weeks ago, do you recall Tsuna taking Lambo out shopping on their own." Nana looked to think on this for a time before she shook her head. Lambo meanwhile had stopped his eating and was openly staring at Reborn with nervousness.

"I'm sorry Reborn, Tsuna does that pretty often. I suppose he could have but it was a while ago to remember the day specifically."

"It's alright, I was just wondering if you might have remembered the morning, if Tsuna might have been out of sorts at all?" Nana once again thought on it but not coming up with anything significant she shook her head again.

Reborn was only slightly disappointed, but he had been expected such an outcome. He made sure to check the doorway and kept an ear out for any distant sounds of breathing and walking before he turned to Lambo who was still staring at him, but no longer in fear, just confusion.

"How about you Lambo. Do you remember anything odd about Tsuna _that_ morning?" He asked.

Lambo flinched at the question, understanding that the hitman had been told about what had happened. He thought about refusing to answer, but thought better on it when he noticed the promise of violence if the ex-Arcobaleno was lied to again.

"Tsu-Ni was acting strange." He said simply, trying to figure out a better way of explaining what his surrogate brother was like that morning. He instead settled for describing the morning. "When he came down, Tsu-Ni looked really nervous and looked like he had been crying. When he looked at me he looked really, really sad, like he was going to cry again. I tried asking what was wrong, but he didn't say. Then, then he got weird, just staring at nothing. He was like that for a really long time. Then, then mama asked him to go shopping. Then he was back to normal."

The explanation was simple but didn't reveal a lot to the hitman but he refrained from showing his disappointment. Knowing he couldn't ask his student, already knowing about the odd memory loss of that particular morning, he would instead have to work on getting the amnesia to lift on its own. Hopefully what Lambo had said would help him with that.

Reborn returned to Tsuna's room a couple of hours later to find that his student had opted to fall asleep at his desk rather than his bed, after glancing at the teens homework he was surprised to see that the brunet had actually completed it, maybe even correctly, but he couldn't tell with the teens arms covering most of it.

Leaving Tsuna for the time being he instead headed out of the window and started to make his way to the humble police station to visit a kidnapper.

* * *

Jacopo had no idea where he had gone wrong. The mission he had been assigned was simple, he had even been told that there would be no problems, it was a simple retrieval. He was to get the brat, and bring him back to Italy. All transport was provided, there was even a fake passport made for the kid he'd be bringing back with him. All he had to do was grab him, knock him out and he would have been home free. He'd done many missions like it, it was all second nature to him at this point, this mission was supposed to be a breeze.

So why had no-one told him that the brat belonged to the Vongola family. And that he was almost always in the constant care of the upcoming Vongola Decimo. And Why in God's name did no one tell him what the Decimo looked like!

 _Someone must have set me up. I should have known when my assignment came from a different source, I'm too greedy for my own good. I couldn't say no when they had already paid me. And that was only half! It was too good to be true. God, how am I going to get out of this mess!"_

"Ciaossu"

Jacopo visibly jumped at the sudden high-pitched voice that greeted him. When he turned to the source he was surprised to find a small, suited, infant staring up at him adorning a smirk and eyes filled with malice. Opting to remain silent in fear Jacopo simply stared as the baby hopped up onto the small bench that he was seated on before pulling out a gun and proceeded to wipe it down with a cloth. He swallowed thickly as he eventually noticed the small yellow pacifier that hung around the infants neck and tried not to panic at realising what was speaking to him.

"I assume you know why I am here." Came the high-pitched tone again, but not hiding any of the violent intentions that the child was harbouring towards the prisoner.

Mute, Jacopo simply nodded.

"Then I suggest you make this quick and tell me everything. Now" Reborn finished at pointed the end of the gun at the kidnappers head. "Start with your name and Famiglia."

I – I'm Jacopo. I'm freelance, I do kidnappings for Families."

"Fine, so which Famiglia hired you for this suicide mission?" Jacopo winced at the accuracy of the infant's words and weighed up his options of survival if he stuck with silence or blabbed to not get shot by a baby. "We are both Mafia, Idiota, and you are freelance, not allied to the Famiglia that hired you, you are not bound by honour in this instance. Besides, they will have more than likely assumed you dead already if they have any idea what they got you in for. Me on the other hand, if you don't tell me what I want to know. I will make you suffer before I kill you. Now. Which. Famiglia. Hired. You." Reborn grit out, making a show of taking of the safety of his cocked weapon.

"It was Edilizio Family! Please, please don't kill me! They told me it was a simple assignment, and it looked like one. No one told me it was Vongola! If I knew I would have never have done anything! I swear!"

"I've never heard of the Edilizio Family. Tell me more about them."

"I can't say I know anything myself, it was just the name I was given with the assignment. I figure they're just a small Family, or just starting out, or y'know. Both." Jacopo shrugged but only one arm moved and he let out a hiss while wincing.

"What's wrong?" Reborn asked, not missing the movement at all and realised that the kidnapper had kept his left arm still throughout the whole time he had been there. "What's wrong with your arm. Is it broken?" He enquired, now thinking that Tsuna had been keeping a lot more from him if his student had failed to mention that he had injured the suicidal dunce before him.

Jacopo just shook his head, his face set in grim determination as he slowly lifted the sleeve of his black sweater.

"Not broken. But I don't even know how to describe this. Other than the obvious way of course. I'd heard of strange powers and what not, but this?" Jacopo cut himself off as his sleeve lifted to reveal his arm.

Reborn supressed a gasp at seeing stone in the place of an elbow, spread further to his mid forearm and upwards towards his shoulder. He looked to Jacopo in silent askance.

"It doesn't go up all the way, and it hasn't spread since. Well, since it happened. Looks crazy, right? Have no idea what to do about it mind." He looked to the infant warily but had a desperation in his eyes. "You, er, you wouldn't happen to know if this is reversible. Do you?" Sadly, Reborn shook his head, still recovering from the fact that he knew what had caused this, but not accepting it. He couldn't, he needed to get to the bottom of this.

"I need you to tell me exactly what happened. Don't leave out any details." Jacopo just nodded as he lowered his sleeve again.

* * *

The child was blissfully silent, appeased by the lollipop he was currently sucking on while they made their way to a train station before they would then make their way to the closest airport to leave the country. Unfortunately, lollipops didn't last forever and the child was starting to become difficult, asking question about where his 'Tsu-Ni' was and where they were going, and who was he. Then the child started to try and get away from the stranger to get back to his brother, who would get him more candy.

Of course, Jacopo couldn't let him do that, the train station was only another five minutes away. Then he could knock the child out for some peace and he wouldn't wake up again until they were landing in Italy.

But he wasn't going to get to the train station if this child kept kicking up a fuss. He decided to drag him into an alley way while there was no one around and try and get him to shut up.

"Tsu-Ni! Tsu-Ni!" The kid was shouting now, and crying, and struggling something rotten. Getting frustrated Jacopo grabbed hold of the kids hair and yanked earning a yelp of pain before he used his other hand to cover the brats mouth.

"Lambo!"

A voice shouted from the end of the alley and Jacopo turned to see a shortish brunet with brown eyes, he was breathing as if out of breath and dishevelled as if he had been sprinting, but his hands were clenched into fists, adorning unique black gloves with white fingers, and his gaze was intense as he was taking in the scene before him. Jacopo recognised the spiky hair and realised that the teen before him was the one the brat had been with before his 'voluntary' abduction.

The brat then seemed to settle in relief and tried to mumble something past his kidnapper's mouth. Jacopo instinctively tried to shut him up by yanking on his hair again, once again bringing tears to the child's face.

He'd turned away for less than a second before he found himself crushed against a wall. The child he had a grip on was now cowering over in a corner, looking to be in shock, but Jacopo was more distracted by the almost bone breaking grip on his arm and the choking sensation he was getting from a grip on his neck. He turned his pained gaze to the teen in front of him, now noticing a large flame burning on his forehead, the once brown eyes now a fierce orange, his gaze promising pain all the while inflicting it. He cried out when the grip on his arm tightened and he seemed to feel a hardening sensation spread from the gloved hand that was gripping him. That was when he noticed the ring on the middle finger of the teen. Extended out to cover the whole digit with a separate smaller circlet adorning the males pinky.

' _Vongola'_

His mind supplied for him as he recognised the sigil that adorned the gloved, faint under the unusual blue gem, but as clear as crystal to him.

"Tsu-Ni?" Came a small voice, he remembered faintly the brat that had been cowering in a corner as his consciousness was fading from being choked.

' _Tsu-Ni, Tsuna. Tsunayoshi. Sawada Tsunayoshi. Vongola….Decimo….Shit!'_

The chokehold lifted suddenly and he slumped to the ground coughing as he desperately tried to get air back into his lungs, but his consciousness was short lived as he felt a blow to the head and darkness took him.

* * *

"When I woke up I was in a hospital, the nurses and doctors were baffled of course by my condition. But I couldn't say anything of course. Omerta and all that. After getting nothing from me I was carted off here. I was contemplating my mortality when you showed up."

The infant he was speaking to however was remaining quiet, not noting his last remark and instead moved to leave.

"Wait! What am I going to do?" He asked desperately. The hitman just shrugged however before he disappeared, leaving the kidnapper for hire to once again contemplate his mortality.

' _Nana must have checked on him at some point'_

Reborn thought to himself as he found that his student had been moved from his desk to the bed and was currently asleep, unaware of the hitman's return.

Thoughts of what he had heard from the kidnapper was still going through his mind as he tried to settle himself to sleep.

' _What exactly is going on with you Tsuna? You've always been too quick to forgive to cause harm to others. You try to get their story before making judgement, and then you are just too understanding. What is happening to you?'_

"What's wrong Reborn?" the hitman turned to the soft voice that broke the rooms silence and saw that Tsuna had turned and was now staring at him with questioning caramel eyes, heavy with sleep.

"It's nothing Dame-Tsuna. Get back to sleep." Tsuna frowned momentarily at this before heeding his tutors command and turning away to sleep. Leaving Reborn to return to his conflicting thoughts.

The next morning saw Tsuna awake with the normal means of violence and rain of bullets to get ready for school. While his student was distracted Reborn made is way downstairs to Tsuna's two waiting friends, having been brought in by Nana to have some breakfast before they depart with Tsuna. The two noticed the hitman man and gave their greetings before Reborn shuffled them out to the yard, keeping his eye on the door in case Tsuna appeared.

"What's wrong Reborn-San?" Gokudera enquired, finding the infants behaviour odd, Yamamoto likewise confused.

"I just want the two of you to keep an extra close eye on Tsuna today. I'm not sure if you've already noticed or not but he's been acting odd lately," The two guardians froze slightly and glanced at each other, understanding reflecting in their eyes before they turned back to the hitman. "So, you have noticed then. I only have a small idea on what's going on, but nothing concrete. Just try and make sure that he doesn't get into any, difficult, situations. If you know what I mean."

"Ma ma Reborn, you don't need to worry. We'll make sure Tsuna will be alright, just as we always do." Yamamoto stated confidently while Gokudera looked a little stunned at the proclamation. Wondering if the sword wielder had been upset at the ex-arcobaleno's lack of faith in them. "Come on Gokudera, we should head back inside before Tsuna comes down and notices us missing." Without waiting for a response, he turned back towards the Sawada household and returned to the kitchen, sitting down while finishing his breakfast. Gokudera merely nodded in understanding of Reborn's earlier request before he followed suit.

The hitman joined them at the kitchen table just as Tsuna tiredly made his way into the kitchen.

"Ah, Gokudera-Kun, Yamamoto-Kun. Sorry for keeping you both waiting!" He called as he saw the two at the table.

"Not at all Tenth!" Came Gokudera's usual exclamation which Tsuna received with a smile before he sat himself at the table and quickly ate the food that was left to him by his mother.

When the three had finished they quickly departed and made their way to school. Reborn remaining in the house, he waited until Nana busied herself with cleaning up before he made his way to his and Tsuna's room before pulling out his phone and dialling a number

" _Ciao"_

Came a wearied voice from the other end of the line once the phone was picked up.

"Nono"

" _Ah Reborn! It is rare to receive a call from you. I trust you have a good reason to resort to such means of communication?"_ Nono's voice seemed to brighten immediately with hearing the infants voice and Reborn realised that he must have woken the Vongola head, forgetting the time zone differences in his need for information.

"It's about Tsuna" Reborn continued, not caring how abrupt he was sounding.

" _I've no doubt. Would you like to tell me what's happened?"_

"You're not acting very surprised. Do you know something?" Reborn asked, noting that Nono sounded completely unfazed.

" _I'm in the dark unless you tell me Reborn, I only know that Tsuna would be the only reason you would be calling me at such a time, and I can only assume that something has happened with the young boy."_

Silence carried on the line before Reborn decided to go ahead with the reason he called.

"There's something happening to him and I don't know what it is."

" _How do you mean Reborn?"_

Nono asked, now serious with the infant's tone.

"He's acting, strangely. His intuition seems to be developing oddly and he's acting on impulses that are very unlike him. Even in a dying will state."

" _What impulses, Reborn?"_

"Violent ones."

A Heavy sigh was heard from Nono and Reborn waited while the Vongola head took in the news of his heir.

" _What about this thing with his intuition?"_

"He's said that it's more clear and potent. He described an event where it was if he was watching it rather than being in it. It then acted as a 'radar' as he was searching for someone."

" _You are going to have to explain this event to me Reborn."_

Reborn did as instructed and proceeded to account the conversation he'd had with the kidnapper the previous night.

A long silence followed while Reborn tapped impatiently with his foot.

" _I understand your concerns Reborn. There are some aspects of what you have told me that I had been expecting, but not so soon. While others are concerning me as well."_

"You had been expecting this?"

" _Only some, Reborn. Mainly the intuition and the ability to enter Hyper Dying Will Mode of his own volition. But the impulses you speak of are worrying."_

"I think you are going to have to explain some of this yourself Nono." Reborn stated earning himself another sigh.

" _Very well"_

* * *

 _ **I Hope you enjoyed the chapter, again, I'm sorry that it is a lot shorter than the last one, but you can expect the continuation of this conversation next chapter, which I shall hopefully get updated for next week.**_

 _ **Thank you again for the continued support!**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **~Killing Reality**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Hi! Another chapter done! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Thank you all for the continued support!**_

 _ **Important note! As you may have noticed already I'm doing very little in the form of Tsuna's perspective, that's not to say that they won't happen, it's just that I feel his development is better explored by viewing the changes from an outside perspective in the form of Reborn and his friends. Plus we do get a little insight to what's going on in his head when he has his little outbursts and what not, so look forward to some those near the end of this chapter ;)**_

 _ **And I would have probably have had this chapter up a little sooner if I didn't spend a lot of time trying to find out where exactly the Vongola HQ is actually located, then trying to remember as I got back to typing this up WHY I needed to know that information. Then there was also looking up the Japanese school system and ages and whatnot, then I had to do MATH to figure out if Tsuna should already be in high school (he's 16 in this fic if I'm going by wikia standards) and I decided to just go ahead and say 'not yet but getting there, add it to the plot hahahaha' THEN I decided I needed to look up Italian mafia hierarchy, (which will make sense when I start to incorporate it into the story) and I was stuck on that info for a while because I found it too interesting hahaha….. anyway…**_

 _ **Sooooo after a ridiculously long authors note, OH WAIT! Disclaimer! Don't own KHR!**_

 _ **There, now on with the story! Enjoy!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _Their Futures_

" _As you already know, I sealed away Tsuna's flame when he was only four, for reasons you are already aware of."_ Nono started after being demanded an explanation from his friend.

"In hopes of keeping him out of the mafia, yes." Reborn responded, not hiding his impatience. Noting this tone, Nono continued.

" _When I met young Tsunayoshi again, when the battles for the rings were taking place, you might recall I used a delving flame, at the time to show him the truth of the situation and why he was facing it. But I also made a small alteration to the seal on his flame."_

"You mean his flame was still sealed at the time?" Reborn asked, genuinely surprised.

" _That's right"_

"But the Rebuke bullets? And the pills?"

" _All temporary, you'll note that there has always been a time limit and he has never been able to manifest his flame without assistance, until recently of course. This is due to the seal that I had placed on him. If we go back to the ring battles, I made an alteration to this seal, so that when he turned sixteen, it would remove itself, but slowly. This would give him time to adjust to the new ability of manifesting his flame, and his Hyper Dying Will Modes on his own volition, and at such a pace that he would not be overwhelmed. I had judged that he would have full control and capability of all aspects of his flame, and his intuition before he turned eighteen."_

"Just in time for him to be old enough to take the mantle of Vongola. You've been planning this for a while Nono."

" _I'm aggrieved to agree with you on that one my friend."_ Came the wistful response of the Vongola boss.

"But if what you're saying is true, then what you've planned is all going wrong. He's had moments of full control of his abilities and his intuition is going into overdrive. Instead of everything going slowly, it's happening rapidly, but in spurts. This isn't making any sense at all."

" _Hence my concern."_

"You've no idea what could be causing this?"

" _Not without direct observation I'm afraid. But I will be investigating the matter on my end, I'll check though the archives at the manor, there's always a chance Primo might have gone through something similar when developing his own flame and recorded it for future reference, but I wouldn't be so hopeful."_

"This didn't happen with you then?"

" _I'm afraid not, I'd never had my flame sealed in such a way so I believe it developed rather naturally. Then we should also consider that Tsuna is the direct descendant of Primo, not I, I daresay there may be differences due to that."_

"Then Iemitsu?"

" _A possibility yes. I'll be sure to look into that myself. In the meantime, I can only recommend that you continue as you have with trying to have Tsuna keep control of his emotions. If nothing else, it should prevent such... unfortunate incidents in the future."_

"I agree. I've not told him yet that I know about the kidnapper, he's not brought it up either."

" _Then I suggest you mention nothing unless he does. I know that sounds like hiding it, but he might have forgotten his actions and bringing them up could make everything worse."_

"Understood. I will be in touch if anything new comes up."

" _As will I"_

"Arrivederci"

" _Arrivederci"_

* * *

"So Tsuna! How are you doing today?" Yamamoto asked as the trio were making their way to school. They were a little late getting out today so the three hadn't been joined by Haru or Kyoko, the former being at a different school and the latter, not wanting to be late, had joined her brother in making her trip.

"I'm okay today Yamamoto-Kun. I suppose it's a little quieter with Enma and his group gone." Tsuna looked sullen at this and Gokudera thought it best to try and lighten his boss' mood.

"It's okay Jyudaime! We'll be sure to see them again when we all head to Italy ourselves"

Yamamoto just stared at the silverette in bland confusion while Tsuna donned his accustomed look of panic.

"HIEEE! Why would we be going to Italy?! Has Reborn planned something again?!"

"Well I don't know about Reborn, Jyudaime. But I imagine you'll be heading the Family in Italy rather than here."

"Waaa? I won't be heading the Family! I don't want to go to Italy!"

"Ah! Got it Jyudaime! You'll want the headquarters moved here so that you're closer to home! Very good Jyudaime"

"That's not it either!"

"Ma ma, we should probably hurry to homeroom before we're late" Came Yamamoto's saving input, although Tsuna was still voicing denials to Gokudera who of course was taking all of them the wrong way.

Tsuna had soon given up with his argument once they all entered their classroom, too exhausted to continue with the denials and just opted for silent agreement on whatever Gokudera was saying, no longer keeping up with the conversation.

"So which one are you planning to go for Tsuna?" Came the inquisitive tone of his Rain Guardian, looking up from where he had resting his head in his arms he looked into the brown eyes of Yamamoto and answered with a dazed

"What?"

"Haha, you look like you've zoned out there Tsuna!"

"Hey! Don't disturb Jyudaime when he's sleeping Baseball freak!"

"Ma ma, the teacher would have woken him anyway when they came in"

"It's fine, Gokudera-Kun, I wasn't really asleep. What did you ask Yamamoto-Kun?"

Gokudera opted to glare instead at the 'baseball freak' while Yamamoto enthusiastically repeated his previous question.

"I was wondering about which high school you're thinking of applying to? I'd like to pick one with a good baseball team, but I'm afraid that my grades probably won't be good enough to pass the exams." Yamamoto trailed off sheepishly but Tsuna just shook his head at the pessimistic attitude.

"You shouldn't think like that Yamamoto, there are plenty of high schools that will let you in with sports talent, it wouldn't matter all too much about your grades. Besides, yours are no where near as bad as mine. I'd doubt I'd even get excepted into a public school." Tsuna said rubbing the hair at the back of his head in a nervous gesture. His response had helped his guardian though and Yamamoto's expression brightened at the confidence given by his friend.

"I'm sure you'll be able to get into a good school Tsuna, you just haven't had as much chance to study much with everything that's being going on recently." He said, hoping to give his friend the same confidence he had just received, Tsuna just gave a nervous laugh and smiled before turning to his storm guardian, who was still glaring at not being allowed to insult Yamamoto, for the time being at least.

"What about you Gokudera, I bet you've already applied to some private ones in the area." Tsuna asked, distracting Gokudera from his one sided glaring match.

"Of course not! Jyudaime! I will only apply for the schools you do, I cannot allow myself to be in a completely different school if you are at risk of being in danger elsewhere. As your right hand man I will not allow it!"

Tsuna sighed as he contemplated how he was going to approach this issue, outright refusing wasn't going to work in this case, like with the Italy talk from the way into school. He needed to be subtle with this one otherwise Gokudera would end up wasting his talent in some small time public school when he could be applying himself better and furthering his already inexhaustible knowledge.

Gokudera looked to be fidgeting under the scrutiny of his boss, who hadn't lifted his thoughtful gaze for two whole minutes since his outburst and was wondering if he had actually angered his boss before Tsuna's expression shifted from contemplative to an all too fake smile, unnerving Gokudera, before his boss spoke.

"No." _Forget subtle, he was going for blunt instead, but he still needed to be smart about it. If he could._

It was with fake cheer and a continued unnerving smile, eyes lighting with unmistakable deviousness that stilled Gokudera's tongue before his boss continued.

"You won't be able to support me better if you waste your talents in a public school, that's if I even get into one. If you go to a private school and gain more knowledge, you would be able to apply it as my Storm guardian. Don't you think?"

Before Gokudera could reply however, Tsuna continued.

"But of course, if you feel that you don't want to apply yourself to be better, then you are free to do what you like. Of course then we'll never know what you might have been able to do to better support me. Would we?"

Gokudera swallowed thickly at the question and was torn between is previous argument of protecting the Tenth or looking to the future so that he might better help the him as a right hand man. The resulting turmoil came out as a shaky

"B-But"

"Wanting to protect me is good, and I know it must be difficult to choose. But I would feel better to know that you will be of greater help in the future for applying yourself academically. Also, after everything we've all been through so far, do you really think that I have no means of protecting myself?"

"J-Jyudaime" Gokudera spoke quietly, Yamamoto looking to Tsuna in awe at the lecture, opting not to say anything as he waited for Gokudera to come to his decision.

"It's up to you Gokudera-Kun. I will not be disappointed in what you choose." This seemed to be decision maker for Gokudera and he now looked to his boss with a fierce determination.

"I will apply to a private school, Jyudaime. I'm deeply sorry for not focusing on how I can be better in the future. I will be sure to improve in all ways that I can so that I can continue to support you better than I have so far. Please accept my deepest apologies, my near sightedness will not be a problem again, I swear it." At this point Gokudera had risen from his temporary seat next to Tsuna in order to bow a full ninety degrees before his boss, garnering whispers and strange looks from the rest of the students in class. For once Tsuna didn't care for the extra attention and gave a true smile at his guardian's decision.

"I'm happy to hear that Gokudera-Kun, and there is nothing to forgive, you were only thinking about my wellbeing. I cannot be angry at that."

Near tears at the praise Gokudera merely nodded rapidly before lifting from his bow and taking his seat the three of them ignoring the whispers from their classmates before the homeroom teacher came in and called to them all to settle down.

Lunch came about slowly for the trio, both of the guardians having different thoughts of the conversation before homeroom and had been utterly distracted in lessons as a result.

Yamamoto had been rather impressed at Tsuna's insight for both Gokudera and himself, in one small conversation his friend had eliminated all fears on picking out a school, as well as silently encouraging that he should focus on the sport he still loved. He was equally impressed at how he handled Gokudera, he himself knew that Gokudera was smart enough to already go to college, if he hadn't already, and that he would just be bored and be wasted at a small public school. But of course he had no idea on how to broach the topic with the explosive teen without it turning into another argument, that would of course get them both nowhere. But Tsuna had turned his own dedication against him, it had almost seemed sly in the way that he had done it, but he knew Tsuna was just thinking about Gokudera's future, just as he had his own with Baseball and it was genuinely amazing to see how it had worked. Gokudera himself seemed to be glowing with pleasing his boss and Yamamoto couldn't help but smile though the rest of the morning.

Gokudera of course was ecstatic that he had pleased his boss. Of course he'd admonished himself repeatedly afterwards for not thinking at all about the future. As the right hand man he needed to be fully able to provide assistance in all manner of things, from counsel, information, protection, mediation or intimidation. Focusing only on protecting his boss, while not a bad thing, limited him in everything else he would be expected to do. He was instantly happy of course, that his boss had recognised the need for him to focus on more than protection and saw it as a positive sign that Tsuna was accepting him to be his right hand man. Happy with this revelation Gokudera was practically glowing all throughout their morning classes, for once not even rebuking the teacher for their dumb lessons.

When lunch did arrive it saw the three of them on the roof. Kyoko and Chrome had opted to head to the home economics room to work on their cooking skills. Tsuna was still a little edgy being on the roof since the recent incident with Dino but was sure not to show his discomfort to his friends while they dug into their meals.

He was happily chewing on a small bite of fried chicken when he felt his blood shoot with adrenaline before he heard a distinct whistle of wind being sliced before he ducked his head out of the path of the coming tonfa. He then instantly leapt forward, discarding his bento and surprising his two guardians before a second tonfa crashed into where he was sat less than a second before. He rolled after his jump, and while rising spun a kick aimed at the skylarks left wrist, hoping to disarm at least one of the tonfa's. Seeing this Hibari backed off and leveled an amused gaze at the now glaring Tsuna, his gaze a bright orange and stance defensive in anticipation of another attack. He eyes flickered to his two guardians, picking themselves up from the ground in stunned confusion. Tsuna, uncomfortable with the Skylark being closer to them than he was moved to circle around the steely eyed teen until he was directly in front of them, blocking the way for Hibari to go directly to them.

Hibari had watched with the eagerness of a predator stalking his prey while Tsuna put himself before the two stunned guardians, the orange fire in his eyes promising a fight should he attempt to get by him. Smirking at the thought he instead opted to put away his tonfas noticing that Tsuna did not move from his defensive stance.

"You are a lot more interesting when you are a carnivore. Sawada Tsunayoshi. But I suggest you stop scaring little children. It disrupts the peace in Namimori" He almost chuckled at the way Tsuna's eyes widened in shock before they started to fade back to his caramel brown. "Until next time, carnivore" He said while walking away, leaving the three in silence. Tsuna just stared in stunned silence at where the prefect had once been, realisation at what his words implied hitting him like a punch in the gut, he tried to control his expression when he heard Yamamoto and Gokudera try to get his attention.

"Sorry, what was that?" He asked as he turned to look at his two confused guardians.

"What did he mean by that Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked, concern furrowing his brow, Gokudera wearing a similar expression nodded in agreement.

"I don't know" He stated, hoping confusion and denial will work well to ward of further questions. He didn't want to go into the kidnapping incident as well. Not after Hibari practically confirmed he had seen everything. Including... No. He wasn't going to think of it. He couldn't. _That_ can't have happened. "He must just be in a weird mood. I mean, he was smiling and everything."

Sensing that his friend didn't want to talk about what the Skylark had said, Yamamoto instead opted for Tsuna's display of althletism

"That was pretty cool the way you dodged his attacks though! I hadn't even realised he was there until you leapt away! And then you almost landed a hit on him. I bet if he was just a little slower you would have got him with that kick" This however seemed to have the opposite effect on his friend who looked to be closing himself off more.

Gokudera was silent for once on the situation as he noticed his boss' darkening mood, sensing that Tsuna was uncomfortable with the baseball freaks' monologue he decided to intervene with a glare and subtle shake of his head outside his boss' line of sight. Blessedly taking the hint Yamamoto fell silent and the two watched as Tsuna stonily picked up his things and made his way back into the school, not seeming to care if they followed him or not.

Gokudera sighed when Tsuna was out of earshot gaining Yamamoto's questioning gaze.

"Reborn' going to kill us." He stated, his companion deflating at the news.

"Well, I suppose we never accounted for Hibari to cause a problem. I wonder what he was talking about though. Tsuna wouldn't scare children."

"I don't know, but the Tenth was clearly affected by it. Maybe Reborn knows something. We can probably ask him later, he hinted that he knew something this morning. Perhaps it's related to what Hibari was talking about."

"Could be, in the meantime we should probably catch up to Tsuna, he'll probably figure out that we're talking about him if we are gone too long."

"Right, let's go." Gokudera decided not to mention that Tsuna looked like he wouldn't notice a bomb going off next to him right now.

* * *

The atmosphere in the classroom had shifted dramatically from the morning, Chrome could instantly tell that something had happened during lunch when she noticed the depressed and sullen mood coming from Tsuna in his corner at the back of the class. Concerned as well as curious she made her way towards him, knowing the teacher wouldn't be arriving for another five minutes or so. On her way she noticed that Gokudera and Yamamoto were not to be seen and wondered if this was what was causing the dark mood in Tsuna.

"Bossu" She called as she got to his desk. Her soft voice gained his attention and he looked to her with heartbreakingly sad eyes. Taken aback at the display of such a raw emotion she almost stumbled back before grounding herself. "Is everything alright?" She continued almost breathless at the heavy aura around the two them. It looked as though Tsuna shook his head marginally before he changed his expression to a painfully fake smile, attempting to reassure her but failing miserably.

"I'm perfectly fine, Chrome-San." He said cheerfully but Chrome frowned at the lie and was about to press the issue before his eyes hardened. "Really." He insisted, his voice hardened along with his gaze. Seeing no means of getting an answer she retreated back to her desk, feeling his gaze on her as she did, trying not to openly shiver at the chill feeling it was giving her.

Shortly after the teacher arrived and the lessons continued, no one seemed to notice or care that the cheerful expressions from Gokudera and Yamamoto had vanished in the brief interval.

* * *

The walk home had been thick with tension as no one could think of anything to say to each other. Once they arrived at the Sawada household they all mumbled their farewells, Gokudera and Yamamoto watching Tsuna enter his home before they turned and went their separate ways.

Nana shouted a greeting from the kitchen as she heard the front door announce her sons arrival, followed by a mumbled 'I'm home' he didn't seem to acknowledge the greeting however and made his way to his room, muttering something about homework and studying for exams. Nana frowned at the mood her son appeared to be in but didn't want to interrupt his studies, besides she was in the middle of cooking. Returning to her food she hummed as she heard his soft footfalls climb up the stairs to his waiting tutor.

Reborn could tell something had gone wrong before Tsuna had even started his ascent up the stairs. This was of course confirmed when his student entered the room with a miserable set to his mouth and a dark heaviness in his gaze. He heard a mumbled greeting from him before his student disregarded him completely and made his way to his desk, surprisingly enough pulling out his homework. The thought of doing any work seemed to stop there though when he noticed Tsuna was just staring at the text in front of him blankly. Figuring a violent approach was not going to work _again_ Reborn mustered the patience to tread carefully. Depression he had seen many a time in the teen, but this was something more. The heaviness in his eyes was weighted with something darker than just sorrow and he had an inkling of what it might be. But again, treading carefully.

 _Be nice, be nice. Damn this better be goddamn worth it, it's making my bones itch having to be this soft!_

"Do you want to talk about it?" He started carefully, setting himself on the desk in front of his student, Tsuna however didn't glance up from his trance but acknowledged the question nonetheless

"About what?" His voice was monotone, probably only responding out of habit. Restraining a sigh, as well as a brewing headache, Reborn continued.

"Clearly something happened today at school. I'm wondering if you want to talk about it?"

"No."

 _Don't shoot him, don't hit him. Don't strangle him. *sigh* there's got to be an easier way of doing this. Maybe drop the subject, take his mind off it, go back to it when he's less…. Zombie like? That'll do. Zombie-Tsuna actually has a nice ring to it. Might use it in the future. So"_

"Do you want any help with your homework?" This actually got a reaction out of the teen. Though not quite what the hitman was hoping for.

 _Maybe surprise, shock, disbelief. Not a look of utter disdain and boredom. Perhaps getting off topic wasn't a good idea after all. Maybe hitting him might actually work. Where did Leon go? I need him to turn into mallet._

Looking around for his small green companion he almost missed Tsuna's monotonous question.

"Why?"

 _Progress! Must have sensed the threat of violence. Knew it would do the trick._

"Why else? Dame-Tsuna, you have final exams coming up, you also need to study for admittance exams for high school. I'm not letting the future boss of Vongola get by with just the compulsory education."

"What's the point? I won't be accepted into any anyway."

"It's that kind of defeatist attitude that ensures you won't. You need to think more like, 'I can and will' instead of 'I can't and won't.' You'll be surprised at how much your own willpower can help you succeed when you actually put your mind to it. Think back to all the battles you've had, all those times you turned your whiny 'I Can'ts' to 'I will' helped you to win those fights. Apply the same thing to your studies and you might actually see some progress. I'm here to help with that of course." Reborn looked to his student in shock when he heard a soft chuckle.

 _I can't believe talking about school of all things has knocked him out of the slump. Not completely though. But we are making progress anyway._

"We were talking about schools this morning too, Me, Gokudera-Kun and Yamamoto-Kun. I was telling them which ones to apply for. Yamamoto was concerned his bad grades wouldn't let him getting into a good sports school."

"What's he going to do then?" Reborn enquired, understanding the difficulty the 'hopefully' future hitman was facing.

"I said he shouldn't worry about it, a lot of high schools focus on sports more than grades, as long as he proves himself good at baseball, there shouldn't be an issue with his grades. It seemed to work. I just hope I'm right." Tsuna wasn't looking at Reborn during his explanation, he's moved his gaze to the orange sky outside his window a soft smile was now gracing his lips but his brow was furrowed in concern at his actions.

"What about Gokudera?" Tsuna scoffed at that, startling Reborn at the action before Tsuna turned his gaze once more to the incomprehensible homework before him.

"He was claiming that he would go to whatever high school I'd go to. As expected I suppose. I told him no."

"And he accepted that?"

"He did once I gave my reasoning." Tsuna's tone was almost smug and Reborn saw a flicker of a smirk and was about to press for more information before Tsuna obliged on his own. "I told him that he should apply to a private school that he would better be able to apply himself in, rather than waste away at a public school that I might not even get into."

"Tsuna" Reborn growled in warning.

"I know, I know. Willpower and all that, I'm just repeating what I said."

"Very well, continue."

"Anyway, I'd said that by being at a private school he'd be better able to support me in the future rather than just dedicating the whole of his time in protecting me, when I'm capable of defending myself."

"And that worked?"

"Seemed to" He said with a shrug. "I'm just happy that they will be aiming for things more suited to them rather than fixate on being around me all the time. Not that I hate them being around, I just want them to think about themselves for a change." Tsuna finished with, a smile still adorning his face. Reborn swelled slightly with pride at hearing the way his students had handled his guardians, and felt brave enough to broach the topic of before.

"So, what happened that turned everything sour? You were particularly unhappy when walking in." He's almost expected his student to return to his dark mood at the question, he was pleasantly surprised however when he received a resigned sigh instead.

"I suppose you won't just let the matter drop?"

"Not a chance" He responded with a grin. Tsuna was silent for a time before he got around to answering.

"Hibari had seen the incident with Lambo and the Kidnapper." Reborn was silent himself for a while as he processed what Tsuna had said and wondered if his student had in fact remembered _everything_ that had occurred.

"Tsuna." He started carefully. "Tell me what you had said to Lambo yesterday." He started as a way to finding out.

"It doesn't matter." Monotonous again, and gaze elsewhere, Reborn decided that he wasn't going to hold back his anger this time.

"Damn it! Just tell me Tsuna!"

"Fine! I apologised!" The brunet said in a shout that could have probably been heard from across the street let alone the entire household. His eyes were a blazing orange of fury and sadness as he directed them at the still and calm Reborn. "I told him that I was sorry! That I didn't mean to frighten him!" He continued and Reborn could see the beginnings of tears in his students eyes at his despair. Much more quietly, as if remembering there were others in the house he spoke again. "And I promised I wouldn't scare him like that again." He finished, his head down and bangs hiding his eyes once more as his shoulders shook. Reborn says nothing as he watches his student move to sit at the end of his bed, shoulders dropping as if defeated.

"What is happening to me Reborn?" He asks quietly, not lifting his gaze from the ground. Reborn hopped of the desk and moved to sit next to his student on the bed, placing a small comforting hand on his leg.

"I don't know Tsuna, and I'm truly sorry for that. But I assure you, I will do everything in my power to find out. We will get through this, whatever this is, together. Just don't push me away, or your guardians. We are here for you." He got a small nod before he withdrew his hand, not used to giving out displays of comfort, being a hitman and all that, but he didn't hide the smile at seeing his student be the better off for it.

"I suppose you know about what really happened with the kidnapper then?" Tsuna said once he had calmed down enough to speak again. With a sigh Reborn nodded.

"I wasn't intending to bring the matter up, I had thought that you might have forgotten, and I hadn't picked up that you had been withholding information from me until I saw the man myself."

"You went to see him?" Tsuna asked, lifting questioning eyes of the ground and directing them to the hitman.

"Yes. I had wanted to gather information. See if he was part of a Family that was targeting Vongola."

"Was he?"

Reborn shook his head.

"Not directly, he was freelance. Hired by a Family to do their dirty work. Freelancers tend to work through anonymous sources and accounts, he only had the family name, no face to go by. Unfortunately, I don't know the family either. But Nono's been informed. He'll be able to look into them from his end. There's nothing much we can do in Japan, the Family is based in Italy, at least that's where the kidnapper was intending to take Lambo to." Tsuna nodded at the information and looked contemplative for a time before he looked to his tutor.

"Can anything be done?" He asked quietly. Reborn frowned in confusion at the question before responding.

"I've just said there's nothing much to be done. We're stuck here in Japan while the Edilizio Famiglia is in Italy."

"I meant his arm." Tsuna bit out in annoyance before his momentary frown softened to guilt. "I knew what I was doing at the time. But I couldn't stop it, I was just so angry at this stranger that had taken Lambo and hurt him." He shook his head repeatedly as if he was shaking away the memory, or the now too familiar feeling of anger. "But that was wrong, is there anyway of returning it to normal?" He asked, a hopeful gaze directed to his tutor.

"Again, I don't know Tsuna. But I'll see about getting Shamal on the case, if anyone has a chance of reversing it then he does." Tsuna nodded in understanding before gracing his tutor with a smile.

"Thank you, Reborn."

* * *

 _ **Have I mentioned that I love writing Reborn's internal little monologues? No? Well I do! It adds that small little bit of humour that I think this fic needs, (because I seem to be making it very dark and emotional….. woops! But I like it so. *shrugs*)**_

 _ **Without wanting to give too much away, I've already mentioned that there will be very little in Tsuna's perspective. Instead, as might already be obvious, I'll be doing more in Reborn's perspective when I am able, this isn't necessarily for favoritism, but more to the fact that Reborn would notice the changes immediately (as he has done) and actively work to try and find the cause (as he is doing) while Tsuna's guardians are a bit slower in realising what's happening (if they can figure it out at all) and will take them longer to try and find out what's actually going on before they could even consider trying to solve it like Reborn is already doing, you might notice Gokudera and Yamamoto have noticed something, but it is only a few weeks after the 'incident' that they are considering asking Reborn about what's going on. See, slower…. Maybe I gave away too much there? Oh well, the story itself isn't spoiled so *shrugs***_

 _ **But anyway, there's my reasoning for why the perspectives are the way they are, plus, again, I love Reborns little monologues!**_

 _ **Next chapter we might be getting a hint as to what had started this whole thing with Tsuna! Look forward to it!**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **~ Killing Reality**_


End file.
